As 2016 draws to a close, we caught up with some of the creatives we’ve interviewed this year and 2015 to get updates on their careers. If you haven’t read any of these interviews yet, be sure to click through. Both in the original interviews and these updates they share valuable tips for aspiring artists and entrepreneurs, and valuable advice for those already in the game. We’ve got big plans for 2017, with many great interviews lined up. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter for more creative updates.
The unceasing day in, day out-ness of being a freelance writer makes it difficult to step back and see where you’ve been and where you are, so I try to take stock of my freelancing writing career every six months. It’s nothing major, but I’ll very consciously take 15 minutes to reflect on new places I’ve written for, travels I’ve taken, articles I’ve written, etc. Searching for signs of progress, if you will. Frequently, a lot would change. But I was thinking about where I was in May when Alex interviewed me for this site compared to where I am at the end of 2016, and I realized that I was pretty much in the same spot. While I’ve written some some pieces and worked hard since then, there’s little that’s substantively different. I think, in a way, that’s good. It reflects getting to a place in the freelance writing world that’s somewhat stable, a spot where I know where the work is going to come from, at least most of the time. While I’m still striving for new outlets and new stories, it’s less of a necessity now. That is, in its own way, progress.
Keep up with Noah by checking out his website.
Kristin Wong, Freelance Writer
This year, I was really excited to finally launch my website, thewildwong.com. I wanted an outlet to chronicle my experiences as a full-time freelance writer. So far, I’ve written about everything from launching a business to exploring new cities to coping with financial fears. In 2017, I’d like to publish a book I just finished writing and make more time for new hobbies I’m interested in, like photography. If you want to stay updated, check out my blog and follow me on Instagram.
Michael Dubova, Founder of Dubova Music Instruments
Whew! 2016 has been a an exceptionally busy year at Dubova Musical Instruments. With nearly twenty four instruments built all varying from mandolins, guitars, wooden-faced-banjos…time to clean up the workshop and start it all over again for 2017. Next year is already getting booked as being very busy with custom orders already filling up the calendar. Aside from building the usual array of custom musical instruments I hope to find some time to work on highly custom designs for guitars and mandolins that I’ve been mentally tinkering around with for the past year. Lastly, I hope to finally get a legit website made to make things easier for customers and myself! In summary, too many ideas, not enough time!
Stay in touch with Dubova Music Instruments on their webpage, and on Facebook and Etsy.
Mike Keenan, Founder of the Juice Laundry
2016 was our first full year open as a full-service juice, smoothie, and raw food bar, and we couldn’t be happier with how things have gone! We’ve learned a ton and made many changes to improve the customer experience. 2017 will be another big year for The Juice Laundry, as we are slated to open our second location in April in Washington, DC, near Nationals Park and the Navy Yard. Design and buildout plans are underway, and we are currently building a great new team to make that location as awesome as our original spot in Charlottesville, VA.
Keep up with Mike at The Juice Laundry.
Yas Imamura, Founder of Quill & Fox
I started the year drafting designs and illustrating commissioned works for Anthropologie. It was a new experience for me, to see how easily my designs can turn into products. I launched my Greenhouses Calendar that year, which was a pet project of sorts for me. I’m working on new designs for Valentine’s now and just overall trying to catch up with the whole seasonal cards circuit again for 2017. It’s never ending!
Keep up with Yas at Quill & Fox.
Michael Ortali, Fllio and CreativeList Founder
Through 2016, many things have happened with Fllio. First: the community has grown tremendously. Seeing new creatives like Vera Prego joining everyday the platform, and empowering them with a space where they can showcase their creations, reminds me the reasons I started Fllio. Second: we launched a large scale search engine for creatives, CreativeList, making it easier for them to be found by customers and creating an additional source of revenue for the community. Million more things have happened, but those were the main pivots. On a personal level, I moved from New York to Miami and applying for US Citizenship. I’m excited to see what 2017 has to offer.
Zelda Gin, The Anonymous Author
2016 has been a busy year. I travelled to back and forth between Thailand, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong for business. Despite a busy schedule I translated Lang Leav’s book Love and Misadventure into Vietnamese. I also released my first postcard book. Postcard’s are one of my favorite things and now I have postcards with photos taken by myself and my friend, with my poems on them (yay!) In 2017 I also want to publish one book of poetry and one short-story book next year, I just quit my job recently to spend some time on them.
Stay in touch with Zelda on Facebook.
